Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein says he's "lucky" to have avoided anti-Semitic abuse during his career

The 63-year-old producer says he's never experienced any racist abuse personally, but his father Max - who served as a sergeant in World War II - encountered it at various points through his life.

He told the New York Post newspaper: "I'm very lucky that way. My dad did, both in the Army and afterwards, so I can only identify and I feel strongly through him.

"I've had a charmed life that way, but I'm still outraged by what's going on. And we need to know and let the people who are doing those things know they can't get away with it."

The remarks come shortly after the movie producer called on people to organise "like the mafia" in the fight against anti-Semitism.

Speaking last week, he said: "There is a quote from Kurt Vonnegut's book 'The Sirens of Titan,' and it always was the motto of Miramax and now The Weinstein Co., and it says, 'Good can triumph over evil if the angels are as organised as the Mafia'.

"Unfortunately, we have to get as organised as the mafia. We can't just take it anymore. We just can't take these things. There's got to be a way to fight back."